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CCC's state-of-the-art dental clinic opens in Southwest

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At Covenant Community Care's new Family Dental Center at 5716 Wellness, Dr. Thomas Storen says the dentists and hygienists will serve close to 10,000 patients in 2011 -- almost double the former clinic's capacity in 2010. Storen estimates 90 percent of those patients are from Detroit.

The clinic now has five chairs and two hygienist stations for two dentists, two hygienists, an oral surgeon and support staff at the clinic. It's open to the public Monday through Saturday.

"We're a community health center, we're dedicated to giving the finest of medical care and dental care that Detroit citizens deserve, and we do it with a Christian flair to it," says Dr. Storen. "So it's a very special place for people to be."

CCC is a faith-based, nonprofit organization which partnered with Southwest Solutions to become a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) in 2007. Patients pay for dental care according to a sliding scale based on income.

"If they're at 100 percent of the poverty level, they'll get a 66 percent discount off the dentistry fees," says Dr. Storen.

Obstetric, pediatric and primary care medical services are also available at the 5617 Wellness building, which was built in a renovated Albert Kahn warehouse.

"We call it integrated health care. It's really the way medical care and dental care should be delivered. Our docs and our dentists are talking all the time about the same patients."

And he says the look and feel of the brand-new clinic is a bonus to the clinic's patients, many of whom lack access to the level of care CCC provides.

"I'm still amazed when I walk in and see it," says Dr. Storen. "It's state-of-the-art dental clinic. We are all digital, which is in accordance with federal guidelines."